On completely going offline at night

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve tried a new habit. Completely going offline at night.

Engaging the day with a morning routine is a great way to stay productive, healthy and mindful. I’ve also found that disengaging from your day is also tremendously important. Here’s how it happened.

A year ago, I stopped checking social feeds on my phone just before going to sleep. I started to switch to ‘Airplane mode’ as soon as I got to bed. I felt great relief being disconnected at night, both because I wouldn’t check my phone during the night like a sleepwalker, and because opening Facebook wouldn’t be the first thing I would do when I wake up. I’ve even created a habit of ‘Staying offline until 10am’ on Lift. It helps me start my day as a producer, and not as a consumer.

But when I said completely going offline at night, I really meant it.

What I did is connect all my devices (speakers, Macbook, monitor, landline & internet router) to a single power strip. Around 11pm, I switch the whole power strip off, and start reading. Knowing that you’re at least 5 minutes away of any digital communication (yes, I canceled my data plan) sets the mood for the mind to disconnect, and smoothly switch into sleeping mode.

It also helped me with my morning routine, as I cannot even skip being disconnected upon waking, setting the mood for a more mindful day.

We’re facing a challenge as being always connected feels like the normal state of busy human beings. I can’t stress enough the importance to make time non only for ourselves, but with ourselves.

Have you tried the complete unplugged night? Would you consider it?